


The Lightbringer

by Masterpiece_of_turkey_cleverness



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Spoilers for s14 e10, Uncle!Gabriel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 19:30:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17473631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masterpiece_of_turkey_cleverness/pseuds/Masterpiece_of_turkey_cleverness
Summary: When Gabriel gets back from the other universe, he finds himself drawn to his nephew, Jack.  Despite his best efforts, their conversation turns serious.  Written for Gabriel Bingo 2019; the square was'Uncle!Gabriel.'





	The Lightbringer

Gabriel was finally caught up on everything that had happened since he'd gotten stuck in the other universe. Other-Michael was theoretically trapped in Dean's head--like that wasn't going to go sideways at the first opportunity--and Jack was human, but could use his soul to power magic. Worse, he'd been taught self-preservation by the Winchesters, of all people. Yup. No way that was going to go wrong, either. 

Figuring that he should probably get to know his nephew while he still could, Gabriel searched the bunker until he found the kid, pouring over some old musty tome in the library. "Hey, kiddo. How's it hanging?"

"Hi, Uncle Gabriel!" At first, Gabriel had been dubious about Jack. Lucifer's son? That sounded like such a bad idea...and then he'd met him, and like everyone else, had become overly attached to the baby-slash-teenager. The fact that Jack even sort of chirped like a fledgling angel when he spoke didn't help any. 

Gabriel sat on the table and passed over a piece of saltwater taffy from this little shop in Newport, Oregon that made the best taffy on the planet. He knew all about Sam's 'limit your sugar intake' rules, and cheerfully circumvented them every chance he got. "What are you up to?"

"I'm searching for a way to get Michael out of Dean's head, just in case we find somewhere we can put him," Jack explained, before unwrapping the taffy and sticking it into his mouth. His eyes lit up in surprise and pleasure. "Mmmm!"

"Good, isn't it?" Gabriel asked conspiratorially, lowering his voice and giving Jack a wink. "Just don't panic when it glues your teeth together--suck on it until it gets soft enough to chew again. I thought Cas was going to smite it when I gave him a piece." 

Jack grinned, but couldn't say much--as Gabriel had predicted, his teeth were already stuck together by the delicious concoction. 

"Of course, I gave it to him so he would stop talking," Gabriel admitted. "Otherwise, it would have been an atrocious waste of good candy. I've never met an angel with less of a sense of taste. Molecules, my perky ass. He just can't be bothered to learn the difference."

"Mu dugh igg im?" Jack was still working on his sweet; luckily, Gabriel was fluent in Help-My-Mouth-Is-Full-Of-Awesome-Taffy--especially given the sad eyes Jack was giving him.

"I like Cassie well enough--better than a lot of my other brothers and sisters. His sense of humor needs some work--he's much too serious--but he's not as much of an asshole as most of the others. And he...tries." Gabriel remembered his conversation with Cas in the other universe. "So there's that. As angels go, you could have much worse role models. Your father, for instance. Or me, for that matter." 

Jack tilted his head to the side--another fledgling trait--and managed to unstick his teeth long enough to ask, "C'n oo 'ell me more abou' wha he was igg?"

Gabriel knew he could pretend that Jack had meant Cas and dodge the question. But that Gabriel had died in Asmodeus' dungeon. Besides, the kid just wanted to know more about his father; Gabriel could understand that urge. So, he took a deep breath and then blew it out. "Lucifer was...beautiful. The most beautiful thing in the universe. His wings put any stained glass window you've ever seen to shame. And he shone like a beacon, even in Heaven's light. When he would sing, everyone else would just stop and listen, because he was that good." Gabriel focused on a point in the distance as he remembered the splendor that was his brother, once upon a time. "Unfortunately, he knew exactly how beautiful he was. If he'd been humble, things might have been different. Of course, humble isn't exactly a trait that us archangels personify."

"Wish I could see him like that," Jack mused, and Gabriel couldn't help but smile down at the teen angel-nephilim-thing. 

"Want to?"

"What?" Jack looked up at him in confusion. 

"You're human right now, so I can't show you -everything-, but I can give you some idea of what he looked like. Hold still," Gabriel instructed his nephew. He held out his hand, laid two fingers on Jack's forehead, and shared one of his memories of his brother with the kid. It was edited so as not to break Jack's brain, but still gave him an overall impression of what Lucifer used to look and sound like before the Fall. 

"Wow," Jack breathed, eyes wide as he considered what he'd seen. 

"Yeah, but, don't ever forget, real beauty is in here," Gabriel told him, leaning down to tap Jack's chest. "In that, you're much more beautiful than your father. At least after the Mark got a hold of him." 

"Really?" Jack asked, looking back up at him. 

"Really-really," Gabriel replied, unable to resist making the Shrek reference. "Hey. Why don't we take a break and watch a movie? You're going to get asthma if you spend all your time in this library. I'll snap us up some caramel popcorn," he wheedled. 

Jack grinned, and stood up. "Sure! Thanks, Uncle Gabriel!" He gave the surprised archangel a big hug; after a moment or two, Gabriel returned it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr at @Masterpieceofturkeycleverness!


End file.
